Public Advocate Mark Green – once attacked as anti-cop by the mayor – moved yesterday to position himself as a pro-police crime fighter, rolling out a plan to “build on” Mayor Giuliani’s successes.

Green unveiled his tough-on-crime proposals to guard against what may be his biggest weakness as a mayoral candidate: a perception that he would be soft on crime.

Giuliani ripped Green in 1999 as the “anti-police, anti-law enforcement candidate” after the public advocate released a report showing lax discipline of rogue cops.

But Green repeatedly praised the mayor’s efforts to reduce crime in his 30-minute speech yesterday.

The public advocate – leading his rivals by 10 points in a recent poll – is expected to face city Comptroller Alan Hevesi, Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer and Council Speaker Peter Vallone in a four-way Democratic primary.

The event and speech appeared to be carefully scripted to stress Green’s pro-police credentials.

The setting was John Jay College of Criminal Justice on Manhattan’s West Side, he was joined by former Police Commissioner Patrick Murphy, who served under Mayor John Lindsay, and Green described himself as a regular at cop funerals.

Addressing about 75 students, Green recalled how he had been a victim of crime – his car was broken into, his apartment burglarized twice, and his mother and grandmother tied up in their home by “thugs” during a robbery.

“Those are experiences that no crime victim can ever forget,” Green said.

“They are the reason that no matter how far crime has declined in the last decade, I will not be satisfied until we make our city safer for my family and for all our families.”

Green’s policing plan includes expanding neighborhood policing, unspecified salary increases for cops, creating a “victims’ office” within the NYPD, and doing more to stem the flood of illegal guns into the city.

Green, who doesn’t wanted to be tagged as a big spender, could not say how much his plan would cost, but vowed not to raise taxes to pay for it.

Green said the cost could be covered by reducing police overtime. His aides later put the price tag at about $24 million next year, not including any police pay increase – the most expensive part.